Australian shares are set to open slightly higher following a mixed session in the US overnight. Wall Street finished mostly lower, with the major indexes erasing gains after President Trump reiterated his hard-line stance on trade in a speech to the UN. The tech heavy Nasdaq, however rose slightly, boosted by shares in Amazon and Apple. Investors are also awaiting the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision which is due tomorrow.
Meantime, the oil price surged before paring gains after Donald Trump called on OPEC to lift output to counter rising prices.
Local economic newsThe Engineering Construction Activity for the June quarter is released from the ABS.
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed mixed yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 per cent to close at 26,492, the S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent to 2,916 and the NASDAQ ended 0.2 per cent higher to close at 8007.
European markets closed higher yesterday: London’s FTSE gained 0.7 per cent, Paris added 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt rose 0.2 per cent.
Asian markets, closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.6 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 9 points gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed flat with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 1 point lower at 6186.
Company newsRamsay Healthcare
(ASX:RHC) has announced the appointment of Dr Claudia Sussmuth Dyckerhoff as a non-executive director. The private healthcare provider says she's a global expert in healthcare and has worked across Europe, Asia and the US. She has previously served as a board member of Hoffman La Roche and Clariant . Shareholders will vote on her appointment at the annual general meeting in November. Shares in Ramsay Healthcare
(ASX:RHC) closed 0.9 per cent higher to $55.48 yesterday
Ex-dividendsBlackmores Limited
(ASX:BKL) is paying $1.55 fully franked
Capitol Health
(ASX:CAJ) is paying 0.4c fully franked
Cedar Woods Prop.
(ASX:CWP) is paying 18c fully franked
Gale Pacific
(ASX:GAP) is paying 1c unfranked
MaxiTRANS Industries
(ASX:MXI) is paying 1.5c fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:35AM was buying US72.51 cents, 55.03 Pence Sterling, 81.90 Yen and 61.64 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to 0.5 per cent gain.
Gold added $1.30 to $US1206 an ounce.
Silver was up15 cents at $US14.49an ounce.
Oilwas flat at $US72.08a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 3.3 per cent to US$6409, Ethereum has lost 7.8 per cent to US$216 and XRP has dropped 12.5 per cent to US 45 cents.
